RulesTeam of exactly nine riders. Teams with fewer riders will be filled out with cheapest riders available (if two or more riders are the joint cheapest, the rider whose name comes first alphabetically shall be used). If quota of nine cannot be reached in this manner (eg, 8 riders totalling exactly 4000, no free riders starting race) team will be disqualified.

Riders selected who do not start the Tour, or who are excluded from the game because of a ban (see below) will be replaced, if it is possible within budget, by the next most expensive from their own team, otherwise as above.

Where a team has nine riders but is over budget, the cheapest rider whose price is at least equal to the overspend, will be replaced according to the same principle.

Teams with more than 9 riders will have their most expensive pick(s) removed from their squad.

Budget4000 points (as has been the case on the two previous versions of this game)

Price of ridersCQ current score as at 29th June, with points accumulated over 12 months leading up to that date, for which the update file that CQ release on Monday 30th will be considered definitive.

There is a spreadsheet at dropboxherethat might help you compile your team.

Rider eligibilityAs previously, any rider who has been under a ban for any part of the period during which their price is calculated is not eligible.The only riders that I am aware of thus affected are Frank Schleck and Mick Rogers: please let me know if you spot others.

Submitting your teamBy personal message to me. Should my message box fill up, I should be able to clear it each evening. Do not attempt to send in your team before the finalised price list is available (30th June)PLEASE use the CQ format for names (surname then first name, nothing else at all): it makes an enormous difference to the time it takes to log teams.If you are also a member of Velorooms, it would ease pressure on my inbox if you submit your team there, where I have an unlimited PM space.

I shall endeavour to have my team ready on the first day after the price list is released and submit it to the first to submit a team so that there can be confidence that I didn't pick from among the best of everyone else's ideas. (Edit: I sent it to Dazed and Confused on 1 July)

DeadlineSaturday 5th July 1100 BST/1200 CET (Start time of the race)ScoringPoints issued according to the points tables of CQ (column GT1). Note there are no points issued for the young rider category.

Per the precedent set in relation to Di Luca and Santambrogio in the 2013 Giro, riders sanctioned for doping offences shall retain their points for the purposes of this game unless the CQ website removes them before publishing the final result on the final day of the race (which seems most unlikely)

murali wrote:is the budget of 4000 finalized or can it be raised to 4500?

the sceptic wrote:why is the budget raised from the giro btw?

There was a lot of discussion before the first of these games (2012 Tour) as to what the budget should be: 4000 was decided upon eventually, as squad prices seemed higher than those for the Giro. I invited discussion of it last year, but no-one took it up. If anyone wants to present a compelling argument for change, we could discuss it, but my instinct would be to keep these things stable.

murali wrote:a doubt: is mike rogers affected?

Good point: the principle is that if his score is lower than it might otherwise have been because of suspension, a rider is ineligible: he presumably could have earned some points between October and April (well, between January and April), so he is out of the game. Thanks for reminding me: I'll amend the OP and the selection spreadsheet.

I haven't played this kind of game before, so I'm asking it over just to make sure: Your total score is gonna be your total post tour cq value of your team minus their starting value? Or minus the 4000? Or it's not the difference that's compared at all, just their raw points made during tour added up?

mihhint wrote:I haven't played this kind of game before, so I'm asking it over just to make sure: Your total score is gonna be your total post tour cq value of your team minus their starting value? Or minus the 4000? Or it's not the difference that's compared at all, just their raw points made during tour added up?

Your score is simply the total points won during the Tour by your 9 riders. There is no advantage in spending below the 4000 point budget unless you simply think that the cheaper riders will earn more points.

The link to the selection spreadsheet (use with caution: teams are not confirmed and prices are liable to fluctuation until next Monday evening) is on the word here in the sentence There is a spreadsheet at dropbox here that might help you compile your team in the OP. The link word should show in a different font colour: I'll underline it to make it easier to see.

(Reading that again, I don't think you are asking where the link is, so I'll answer the alternative interpretation of the question)
The data in that spreadsheet is the most recent CQ download: data as of 15 June, so only 2 days of TdS included. Depending on at what time CQ make the download of data to 22 June available (and what is on TV, and/or how randy Mrs Armchair might be feeling) I will update prices either tonight or tomorrow evening: these will still only be provisional until 30th June.

Armchair cyclist wrote:...(Reading that again, I don't think you are asking where the link is, so I'll answer the alternative interpretation of the question) The data in that spreadsheet is the most recent CQ download: data as of 15 June, so only 2 days of TdS included. Depending on at what time CQ make the download of data to 22 June available (and what is on TV, and/or how randy Mrs Armchair might be feeling) I will update prices either tonight or tomorrow evening: these will still only be provisional until 30th June.

sorry for that badly worded question. i was supposed to type file instead of link.

ty for the reply. I will wait for the updated file for making the selection.

Cycling is interesting only because the line between the improbable and the attainable is not clear.

The dropbox file has now been updated with CQ prices to 22 June: these are still not the confirmed starting prices, but will be closer to them for most riders. I've also made changes to the squads for Astana, Omega and FdJ.

AC, could you please update the file? i hav got confused after the nationals.

Also, regarding raising cap. Is it still 4000? Most of my combinations are going over budget with just 7 riders so could you please raise the limit to 4500 unless ppl have already started submitting teams.

Cycling is interesting only because the line between the improbable and the attainable is not clear.